St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-01-31
AGAINST HIGH LICENSE.
Rev. a. w. Edwards Says Ii is am
Act TO Catch Temperance VoIes.

Rev. A. W. Edwards pastor of Clinton
Avenue NJ. E. church, preached yesterday
on High License" and the sentiments eX-
pressed by him were strongly against any
license whatever. His text was taken from
the xviii chapter of Isaiah. The preacher
said it would appear as though the words OF
the text were written specially for the pres
ent day, when state legislatures made a
compromise and cove nant with the most
effective agency of hell-the liquor Traffic
and gave it the sanction of law for a
monetary consideration. He said:
The whole history of liceuse for centuries
has been one of shame and disgrace to Anglo
Saxon civilization. England has expert
mented with restriction aud license for 500
years, and is to-day one of the most drunken
nations on earth. Madagascar and China are
more enlightened on this question. Both the
latter have refused to license opium and
liquor. But every tree shall be known by its
fruits. What can the advocates of high Ii
cense show as the results of their pet theory?
l challenge the nigh licenSist to an eXamina-
| ton of its results. Nowhere has free trade
| in liquor been proven to he any worse in it's
| results than the highest license ever adopted
| Chicago and Omaha are pretty specimens of
| temperance towns as the result OF high Ii
| cense. Chicago pays $500 and Omaha 81 .0G0
| Somebody ought to put Omaha on wheels
| and run it out on WabaSha street for the ben
| eft of the Minnesota legislature as a sample
| of the virtues of high license. But why go
| SO far from home? Hear the opinion of
| some eminent authorities on this subject
| Ex-Mayor Hardy, of Lincoln, Neb., after the
| 81 900 license had been in effect long enough
to test it, said: There has been no improve
ment in our saloons; high license has done
| nothing 10 wake up temperance sentiment
| Men get drunk as usual; saloonkeepers vio-
| late the law as they have always DONE John
! b. Finch, who labored hard for the passage
! of ha Nehr Cl-a lONE-
| that was terribly mistaken in my theories.
! Many of the delusious urged n defense of
! high license nave been exploded by the TT al
| of the law" DR.. Herrick Johnson of Chi
| cago, Says: 1.-The saloons closed by high
| license are mostly those in connection with
groceries, and the least harmful and most
| decent of all. The great arteries OF the city
| show DO closed saloons The Daily News of
the same city, after the law had been in eff
feet for two years, said: LAS d revenue
measure it is success, but as u temperance
| measure it is a failure and u farce" Will
! such sensible men as compose the legiSl AZURE
of Minnesota give their sanction to such an
| Ubiquitous measure, thinking that it will be of
any benefit in reducing the evils flowing from
| the drink traffic? Will they COM
| looukeepers and make covenant
with their dark trade if they pay the state
share Of the profits? If so let me warn them
IN the language of the inspired prophet
| "Your covenant with death shall be disan-
| nulled and your agreement with hell shall not
| stand" Gentlemen, there is but one way to
settle this question and that is to let the peo-
| pie settle it, and they will settle it right. If
| you do pass the socalled high license bill give
! it its right name-"An act to catch temper
ance votes without offending the rum
| DOwer.'